Mercantilism- "Was the accepted system of Europe where there are rules for buying, selling, trade, profit, and measuring one's wealth against one's rivals".
The system survives under the simple economic principle that the nation must sell more than it buys also known as a
"favorable balance of trade"
The more you sell, the more wealth you accrue. Wealth = Power and Prestige
The country must be a creditor rather than a debtor nation and must be as self-sufficient as possible
The colonies had a plethora of raw materials which were very valuable to England giving it Wealth, Power and Prestige
To protect this wealth, England passed a series of rules or laws known as the "Navigation Acts"
Triangle Trade Assignment:
Make a list of the types of products that were going from the 13 Colonies to the West Indies.
Now do the same for the 13 Colonies and the Carribean with England.
And lastly Africa with the Colonies and vice-versa.
A typical situation would go like this:
"A ship sets sail from the 13 Colonies and heads to the Carribean with lumber and grain. The ship unloads the lumber and grain and loads sugar in trade. The ship now sets sail with the traded sugar for England. It lands in England, unloads the sugar, is loaded with manufactured items needed back in the colonies. Sets sail again for the colonies where it lands with things like furniture, mirrors, ceramics, etc."
At first slaves were only a small part of this trade system, but over time, slavery would become the major source of income for the traders.
Watch the sad video overview of slavery and the Triangle Trade below.
- The system survives under the simple economic principle that the nation must sell more than it buys also known as a
"favorable balance of trade"Triangle Trade Assignment:
Make a list of the types of products that were going from the 13 Colonies to the West Indies.
Now do the same for the 13 Colonies and the Carribean with England.
And lastly Africa with the Colonies and vice-versa.
A typical situation would go like this:
"A ship sets sail from the 13 Colonies and heads to the Carribean with lumber and grain. The ship unloads the lumber and grain and loads sugar in trade. The ship now sets sail with the traded sugar for England. It lands in England, unloads the sugar, is loaded with manufactured items needed back in the colonies. Sets sail again for the colonies where it lands with things like furniture, mirrors, ceramics, etc."
At first slaves were only a small part of this trade system, but over time, slavery would become the major source of income for the traders.
Watch the sad video overview of slavery and the Triangle Trade below.